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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Road Warrior

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Posts posted by Road Warrior

  1. Hello Everyone,

     

    I want to dedicate this story to "Keep the Show on the Road" Dave. For the intial discovery of the existence of this trough, which steered me in the direction to find this artifact and in helping me write the story and come up with a snappy title for it. Dave has been a great help to me in honing my skills as a road historian and writer.

     

    Thanks Dave!!!!!!

     

    No Beer at this Yellowstone Trail Watering Hole

     

    Last week my wife Leona and I met with Dave and his wife Sheila for breakfast in North Bend, WA. After breakfast, we drove up to Snoqualmie Pass to explore the Yellowstone Trail (YT) / National Parks Highway (NPH) also known as the Sunset Highway. There is a segment of the original 1915 highway leading down the pass on the western side. Today this road is Forest Service Road 5800 or FS-5800.

     

    We were trying to locate (along with some other items) the old water trough used to fill radiators of the early autos that over-heated going across the pass as many did. Dave had told me about its existence. I never heard of a radiator fill trough before or knew that one was on the pass. Unfortunately, we were not able to locate the trough. The day was still exciting and we all had a great time exploring together.

     

    Saturday June 8th my wife and I drove up to the Denny Creek Campground. This is just below the second set of switchbacks on the western side of the pass next to the 1915 road. You can park there to take a hike on the many trails that originate there. Today we are going to hike up the pass on the Historic Wagon Road.

    This wagon road was the first route for wheeled vehicles over Snoqualmie Pass, which began in 1867. In 1905, the first auto crossed over the pass using this wagon road. In 1909 as part of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, there was a coast-to-coast automobile rally, which started in New York and raced to Seattle. The promoters claimed it to be the first transcontinental race of its kind and this rally would include a passage across Snoqualmie Pass.

    The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition was a world's fair held in Seattle, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest.

    Only four of the six vehicles that departed New York were successful in traversing the Pass, and the accounts that exist today are remarkable.

     

    Snow and mud tortured the teams on the road across the pass, described by some accounts as “little more than a wagon road.” And it was in fact, a wagon road!

     

    Today you can hike a one-mile portion of this historic road. We began at the Denny Creek Campground and started up the hill. It is remarkable that you can still see the road very well in its original state. Yes, it is just wide enough for an old auto to pass through. Near the end of the one-mile journey, we discovered what appeared to be the remains of planking. This area is very wet and the use of planking would indeed be needed. There is so much vegetation over the rotting wood but I could make out some rows of boards where the water had washed out part of the ground.

     

    I also found what looks like a metal bracket possibly used to secure the planks but I do not know what it actually is. It was in the mud along side of the wooden planks so I wonder if it had anything to do with that.

     

    Numerous places huge trees have fallen and the folks who cleared the trail for hikers in the mid 1980 have just rerouted the trail around the large fallen trees. We walked along as much of the original route as we could.

     

    In the mile, we climbed 272 feet and the trail ended at the point of the lower curve in the upper switchback. I could see that the wagon road continued up the hill beyond this point but was impassable due to fallen trees. The trail makers must have decided that this was far enough of trail to maintain.

     

    From looking at the 1913 original blueprints for the upper switchback and comparing them to today’s map. I could see that the switchback was realigned. I also have a photo dated 1915 and it shows clearly the same alignment as the 1913 map. I believe that sometime after 1915 this part of the highway was upgraded. It could have been done in modern times but this will need more research.

     

    The Sunset Highway was dedicated in 1915 at the time the YT and NPH had reached Washington State. From 1905 until 1915, the early automobiles had to use the wagon road.

     

    From 1915 to 1925, you used this route (FS-5800) up the pass. In 1925, the Milwaukee Road had completed the tunnel under Snoqualmie Pass to Hyak. In 1926, the road was realigned to go across the river at the point were FS-5800 begins. The new route crosses the river on what is now FS-9034. The bridge that this new alignment uses is the bridge that Dave had photographed with me pointing to the old railing in the river. Then the highway went up the pass on the old railroad grade to the summit. This segment is now the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 going up the western side of the pass to the summit.

     

    We still didn’t find the water trough.

     

    The next day we decided to go back and look for the elusive water trough.

     

    We parked near where our earlier expedition with Dave and Sheila had parked to look for the trough. I had read a report that it would be near where the 1915 road reached the trees after going down past the upper switchback. We walked up and down where we had walked last week. To no avail, so I stopped for a moment looking for the wife as she had wandered into the woods and I could not see where she had gone. Then I said to myself while waiting for the wife to pop out of the forest that it had to be over where the trees had started from the clearing and I should try one more time. As I walked back up the road, I noticed a piece of rock that had a squared edge. I scraped some muck from the top and noticed it was flat and longer than it looked. I yelled for the wife and got no reply. I walked back down to find her and let her know that I had found something.

     

    I heard her say something I should not type into this story as she was struck by a thorn going through the brush while trying to get back to the road.

     

    We then walked back up the road and I showed her what I had found. We were not completely sure what it was. It looked like an ordinary concrete block. It was completely covered with weeds and mud. We could see the concrete I exposed but when we stuck a pry bar into the middle, it went right down into mud. Eureka!

     

    We both cleared the weeds and mud with our hands breaking loose the sediment inside the trough with the metal bar we had. We were able to clear enough muck away from the trough so we could get some photos of it.

     

    Now it is easy to find and for many, to pass by and wonder what the heck it is.

     

    Link to all photos and maps of the trip - http://www.ilwu19.com/sunsethwy/pass.htm

     

    Link to just photos of the wagon road - http://www.ilwu19.com/sunsethwy/wagon.htm

     

    post-51734-0-07257000-1371000082_thumb.jpg

  2. Great article Dave! You did a great job telling about our trip. Leona and I had a great time with you and Sheila exploring the area. Too bad we didn't find the trough. Oh well it gives us an excuse to go back.

     

    You forgot to tel everyone about the Ranger at the State park. He must have had a bad day or what? I guess he was grumpy because he had to work that day.

     

    Anyways we look forward to our next adventure together.

  3. The link below is a documentation of my trip along the southern route of the Yellowstone Trail this spring of 2013. This part of the trail is new to me and I tried to figure out the original route as best I could. I have read Mark and Dave's journeys throught this area to get a better idea of where to go.

     

    I know this segment has been posted before by them but I think each one of us who travels sees different things to share with others.

     

    You can visit the page at this link.

     

    http://www.sunset-hw.com/walla_walla_trip.htm

     

    Curt

  4. Hello

     

    I finally was able to go document and check on the condition of the route along the National Parks Hwy & the post 1925 route of the Yellowstone Trail. This as you all know is the Old Sunset highway from Wenatchee to Spokane. It was sunny most of the time and it was fun checking out the old route.

     

    The part of the Sunset Highway going through Quincy and across the ferry was not part of the Yellowstone trail. The Yellowstone Trail post 1925 used Blewett Pass, as it had become a viable route by then.

     

    I put up a page of my journey and you can view it at the below link.

     

    http://www.sunset-hwy.com/spokane_trip.htm

     

    Happy motoring

    Curt

  5. Hello Forum

     

    This weekend my wife and I took a trip over the old Yellowstone Trail / Sunset Hwy from Fall City to Vantage then up to Quincy to Wenatchee. The next day we continued to Waterville and on to the Moses Coulee. I will post more photos of our trip in the next week.

     

    We had a great time driving on the abandoned roadbed near Trinidad and I believe we found an old original wooden bridge just North of Trinidad. I will post the photo I got from the side of the road but unfortunately this bridge in on private property. I plan on asking the owner if we can drive down there to get closer photos.

     

    The old abandoned roadbed in the Moses Coulee was excellent. I read all the posts about it here and had to see it for myself. (Photos to come.)

     

    On our way back we took the newer route through Cashmere and then over Blewett Pass on our way home.

     

    When we came onto the Old Monitor Road on the way to Cashmere, we found an older alignment now called Careys Corner. On the other side of SR2 we found an old Indian cemetery alongside the old alignment. As my wife was looking at the graves I walked up to photo the old concrete road. As I looked down there it was, a dated slab! It was exciting to actually find one. I learned from reading the posts on this forum about the old concrete slabs being dated in places where they finished the days work. But to find one myself was really cool.

     

    I wanted to share my discovery with you.

    Curt

     

    http://www.ilwu19.com/sunsethwy/cashmere.htm

    • Like 1
  6. I had to make a correction. I was up most of last night downloading maps so I got a little mixed up. The county records show that this stretch of Hwy from Preston to Fall City was graveled in 1923. The records show that the paving was done in 1926 with some repairs done in 1935 and 1936. The records I found on this bridge and others that have this pattern style all date in the late teens.

     

    Below is a link to what I found that I think it this bridge over the Raging river. The county dated this 1914.

     

    HTTP://www.ilwu19.com/sunsethwy/1914raging_river_bridge.pdf

  7. If you look at the map of where Maplewood Ave connects to Airport Dr. in Bellingham. You will notice the on and off ramps to the freeway are favoring Maplewood Ave. This is because as the freeway was being constructed and Maplewood Ave, was the Pacific Hwy. They linked the new freeway to Maplewood Ave as you can see in the map.

     

    HTTP://www.ilwu19.com/pacific_hwy/images/maplewood.jpg

     

    I like Maplewood Ave as it retains some old pavement. Here are some photos I took last summer.

     

    http://www.ilwu19.com/pacific_hwy/maplew1.htm

  8. I have been working on the Sunset Hwy / Yellowstone Trail in Washington. So far I have come up with this map of the route from Seattle to Fall City. in the early days as you know the route used the Kirkland ferry from Seattle. In the 20's it routed through Renton. In 1925 the State added the Bothell route as an alternate. The route from Kirkland to Redmond had 3 routes from what I have found. The first one is the Old Redmond Road. After leaving the ferry you took a right onto State St and went South to SE 68th St and then continued East as it turned into 70th St. 70th St turns into Old Redmond Rd and continues into Redmond.

     

    Another route that I am not sure was ever built was the Kirkland Redmond Shortline rd. I have read that it was mapped but I am not sure if it was ever completed. I could use help on this.

     

    https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215143630248322302759.0004acae2dd69399729c6&msa=0

     

    This 3rd route is the one everyone knows about. It is the 1923 route East on SR 508 into Redmond.

     

    Once in Redmond the trail followed the accepted route to Union Hill Road which turned onto the Old Brick Rd. / SE196th Ave NE. I believe this road was used to circumvent the water from Evans Creek. I believe the old route continued south to NE50th St and turned East to connect with SR202. The newer Alignment was built by 1915 if I am correct. As you can see from my map the route it took in these early years. I have not validated this but from the maps I have seen the route followed Fish Hatchery rd. and went up the hill SE of the current alignment. The route you see today is the 1925 alignment.

     

    This is my theory of the route based on the maps, my personal trips and the topography.

     

    More to come

  9. Hello everyone!

     

    I am new to the group and wanted to say hi. I am glad to be part of this forum as it is great to be with like minded people who enjoy the history of the old highways. I am very fond of the Pacific Highway and since I live in Washington I am interested in the routes it took in my state. I have learned a great deal from this site and I enjoy the new discoveries posted here. I look forward to share and view many more discoveries.

     

    I wasn't sure what to start with so I picked this photo I took last summer from Columbia St and 1st Ave. I think it is the last sign in Washington that shows SR99 as US Hwy 99.

    post-51734-0-77484600-1364007383_thumb.jpg

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